As the dust begins to settle, and as we finally manage to retrieve our well and truly blown-off socks, it seems like now is a good time to take a look back at the shenanigans, reveals, and juicy info that were all present in the recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct.

Many went into the Direct with a degree of caution, preventing themselves from any potential let downs, or even annoyance thanks to the Smash-heavy E3 presentation, but the online reaction since the event seems to have been mostly positive, leading us to question what else Nintendo and Sakurai-san could possibly announce.

Before we ask you for your opinion on all things related to the show (via the lovely polls and comments section featured down below) feel free to watch the full video again to recap if you need to. We had the character announcements for Simon and Richter Belmont, King. K Rool, and Chrom and Dark Samus as Echo Fighters; the single-player Classic mode was confirmed to be making a comeback; a handful of new multiplayer mode options were revealed; and even the shocking 'death' of our favourite green hat-wearing moustachioed plumber amongst other things.

So, with all of that nicely cleared up, it's time for you lovely lot to let us know what you thought. Go ahead and leave your votes in the polls, and make sure to share any extra thoughts with us in the comments down below.

What were your favourite announcements in the Direct? (Choose up to 3) (1,952 votes)

I thought it was good, a solid presentation

It was ok, I guess

It was a bit disappointing

I thought it was terrible

Ryan’s that annoying kind of guy in multiplayer games - you know the one, the kind of person that throws a temper tantrum if he can’t be Yoshi in Mario Kart or gets stuck with the controller with the dodgy button. Yeah, that kind.

I enjoyed it more than I expected to. I thought for sure I had seen enough of it already but this Direct actually got me pretty hyped. I love the idea of this just being the ultimate smash game, a hundred stages, all the characters you'll ever need. I'm looking forward to getting stuck right in.

Also, did I dream that thing about being able to listen to the music with the screen off? Haha slightly unnecessary, but... whatever.

It was a fantastic Direct but still could've done with being a general Direct instead. I knew I was buying Smash Ultimate day 1 way before this Direct meanwhile the lead up to Smash Ultimate's launch in terms of games is rather dry.

I wasn’t blown away by any of the news, since I didn’t really care for any of the characters introduced, but it was still a very good showing. I’m extremely impressed by how much work and content Sakurai and the team are putting into this game!

A great direct, new additions are almost all characters I could see myself 'maining'. Simon wasn't my favourite announcement, but the intro trailer was fantastic and he's become my most wanted charactsr to play with. I've been looking for a 'good' heavyweight so he could potentially be it. Or maybe KRool, but he looks pretty low teir so far.

I had a great time. What I loved: Simon and Richter (I've never played Castlevania, but I love how many classic franchises are getting represented in Smash), Chrom, Dark Samus (this was one of the characters I had been asking for, and she looks amazing! Thank you, Sakurai!).

Liked: K.Rool, stage morphing, new modes (especially smash down).

Disappointed: Zero is an assist trophy instead of fighter, Dark Samus being an echo fighter instead of original fighter (she has tons of her own moves she uses in Prime 2 and 3, and there's some moves they could have pulled from her assist trophy in Smash 4 as well...but her being an echo fighter from a game called Echoes is kinda perfect at least. I hope you can swap to her Prime 2 appearance).

Still hoping for: Smash Run or adventure mode, Dillon as a fighter (we haven't seen his assist trophy yet, so I think it can still happen!).

For Smash fans it's a long wait until release date and I'm sure it will be everything they want and more.

For us non Smash gamers, it's just another long wait until something comes out that should have been here already.

For me last year was good as a Switch owner, this year is poor and this looks to continue at least from Nintendo well into next year.

Nintendo seem to have played all their big cards at once, Zelda, Mario, Smash, Pokemon, Party, Tennis, Mario Kart, Splatoon etc. Third party games have not been that forthcoming and so next year could be interesting, but maybe for the wrong reasons.

@zool While it may be very late in the game, Nintendo has stated that it has 2018 releases yet to be revealed. I have no idea if that’s first-party offerings or if Nintendo meant the constant (i.e. daily) stream of indie and third-party announcements, but more is on the way for 2018!

On topic: I loved the Direct. This game is jam-packed with stuff and the fact that there is EVEN MORE to reveal is just insane.

I skipped Wii U, I won’t be skipping Ultimate. I still love that Snake is back and I am crossing my fingers the Codec conversations make their return - those were absolutely amazing!

The only other thing I would have also liked to have seen is Octoling echo fighters for the Inklings but if they’re not added I won’t complain seeing as it’s just a small cosmetic thing. I’d be okay with waiting for the next game for them.

I mean it was cool but at this point I don't think they need to do anymore. If someone isn't sold on the game already than they probably aren't going to be. Me personally I am sold on it and more information isn't really nessecary imo. The fact that there was still the "one more thing to be revealed later" was kind of annoying. Ah well overall we enjoyed it!

Didn't watch it. I like Smash (not fanatically), but I got more than enough during E3. I don't like seeing too much or getting caught up in too much hype before a games release. By the time games come out, they feel like old news and don't live up to the months of hype. Rather just wait for it to come out

It was far better than I expected. Starting from the Castlevania inclusion (which I was praying for) to the huge music and stages collection, to King K. Rool, Monster Hunter and Shovel Knight assist, training modes ... everything was so good, from the beginning to the very end of the video.

Before this Direct I was not particularity hyped for this game. Now I am. Instant buy for me!

I'm not a hardcore Smash player, but I loved it! I went in thinking that there couldn't possibly be that much more of substance to show after splurging at E3 for days. I was horribly wrong. 5 fighters, inclusion of bosses, My Music is still in with so much music, saved rulesets, stage morph, Smashdown. There's still 4 months to go, other than a story mode, what could possibly be in store?! I'm excited for the game, I think I'll be playing it for quite awhile to come.

Edit: I also think I'll have to give Simon a shot at replacing Link as my main.

I'm not sure. But what I'm sure of is that Nintendo has done nothing but disappoint me in 2018. Why wouldn't they just announce everything in this direct is what's actually puzzling me. TBH Smash Bros. just isn't that big a deal for me anymore, it's fun in small amounts sure, but other then that! meh. Don't really want to spend my time playing smash Online and my friends have moved on from this game aswell. If they won't spent time on a story mode I won't buy Smash U and making a Mario Tennis Aces style story DOESN'T COUNT! :-/

As someone who previously believed this was more like Smash Wii U 2.0 I can't understand how anyone thought this was terrible. Sure I could use some more Donkey Kong fighters but I think there will always be people wanting more fighters. Its an impossible list to fill. I guess waluigi shouldn't be that hard to put it... but anyways this was significantly better then I ever thought. Cant wait to 8 player.

I have to admit, I loved the whole presentation from start to finish, but my jaw hit the floor when I saw that 'Stage Morph' feature - what a great addition that promises to be!

That tantalising tease of the yet-to-be-announced mode on the main title menu sure has my mouth-watering too! ..not sure how much to read in to the apparent revelation that the mode will be named 'Spirits' - Nintendo may not have simply blurred that section out, but covered it with a blurred template for a bit of 'misdirection' instead - but, at this point, the idea that there's yet more to be revealed is borderline unbelievable!

It was great. There's no denying: there IS a lot of content being offered and it seems that the team is putting a lot of love into the making of this game. No doubt the $60 will be a fair price for such variety of content.

I was relieved with the announcement of the classic mode and I'm really looking forward to something else related to single player mode. I hardly ever play against someone, whether it's online or local, so I need a solid solo mode

@zool "Nintendo seem to have played all their big cards at once, Zelda, Mario, Smash, Pokemon, Party, Tennis, Mario Kart, Splatoon etc." Are you ok? 4 of those were release during 2017, 1 was released a couple months ago and 3 are yet to be released. I struggle with "all their big cards at once" when in fact this covers March 2017 up to December 2018.Your logic escapes me.

@zool "For us non Smash gamers, it's just another long wait until something comes out that should have been here already." Speak for yourself and don't generalize please. There are plenty of games releasing each week if those don't interest you that's an entire different issue.Self entitlement runs strong?

Yay, a poll! I loved the Direct, and it actually made me much happier than the previous showings, changing the status of Ultimate from a sure buy to a MUST BUY!!! For me the top 3:

1) King K. Rool - seems like a fun new type of a heavy character, although the Belmonts look fun as well and were a surprising (and at the same time not too surprising, in a good way) and good addition

2) So many stages! I was afraid if the stage count would be smaller, as there are so many interesting stages in the previous ones, but no need fear that any more! My favourite returnee for sure: Brinstar Depths! I like stages that are very different to the others ones! That's why it's a bit sad to see the DKC Returns stage with foreground and background is not returning... :/ Oh well, there's still so much to choose from and the one I mentioned is already a reason to rejoice!

3) Smashdown Mode - I always change my character for every match, so it is fun to spice that play style up even more! And also to get those friends who use the same character to try something new

Now, the last thing that would make this the perfect game: Either Subspace Emissary-esque epic cinematic adventure, OR the like of Melee Adventure Mode, a fun and light venture through all the different game worlds with varying challenges and play styles

It was a great direct as far as Smash goes, and pretty much put to bed any griping that this is "just a port" of the Wii U version. This is clearly an insanely ambitious game, and will sell consoles all on its own.

But as good as it was, it almost served to emphasize that Nintendo doesn't have much else to announce in 2018. The Switch still managed to have a decent year, mostly on the backs of excellent indie titles, but Nintendo really needs to figure out how to coordinate first- and second-party releases to maintain momentum in the long haul.

Didn't go in expecting much and I walked away very satisfied with the presentation overall. I was not expecting that many new characters, and only thought there would maybe be one or two. Actually... well, I was right about that cause 3 of them were echo fighters, but still. I also really like the stage morph feature, it will really keep things fresh arranging the stages however you like.

Lets just take a moment and really appreciate how great those animations were of Castlevania and King K Rool. The animation was incredible and well thought out. Kudos to the whole team who worked on those.

Much respect for you Sakurai, if this does really end up being your last smash, you'll definitely go out on a high note.

I'm glad they announced King K. Rool, Chrom and Dark Samus as Echo Fighters but hopefully that green box is the equivalent of Subspace Emissary.And I don't know if it's just me but I don't like to see some characters in there it's like they don't truly fit with smash, I would replace some characters with others to make the game perfect like Cloud - SoraSnake - Bomberman Simon Belmont - Rayman Bayonetta - Crash BandicootTo me this way the third party characters are more iconic and for the first time facing each other like Mario vs Sonic but of course it's wishful thinking

It was an good direct. With plenty of surprises in the from of Richter as an echo,assist trophies and the new stage. Will their were some things that made me sad (krystal,ashley and shovel knight being assist trophy) the fact their in the game in some form was enough to keep me happy.

Still surprised we have not gotten a new female character yet (no echo or a character who swap's gender)

I saw there was a leak beforehand with some Castlevania music on Youtube (in name, at least), but luckily I didn't see the contents of it (like, all I saw was that there was a leak, nothing specific) and I deliberately avoided browsing too much when I saw that, so the Castlevania stuff came very unexpectedly for me. While I'm not a Castlevania fan by a longshot, I'm still happy Simon (and Richter) is(/are) in Smash Bros. Though I am mildly worried about their long reach.

K. Rool's inclusion is just absolutely fantastic, he's portrayed so well and I love it.

Everything in between those two character reveal was amazing as well. The stage morph idea is absolutely brilliant. I had always kind of hoped there would be a stage that would travel from one game universe to the other, and this is the next best thing, though I do admittedly hope they'll expand it beyond just two stages in the future. It's still great as it is though! I think Delfino Plaza and Skyloft are going to be two of my favourites to match up.

Also really happy with Squad Strike, although I find it a little bit of an odd decision to make it only 3 vs 3 or 5 vs 5. What if somebody wants 2 vs 2 or 4 vs 4? I can understand limiting this to 5, but the limitation for 3 and 5 only is just a bit weird to me.

Overall it was still a super solid direct and while not everything was necessarily something to get me pumped coughChromcough I was still super satisfied. I absolutely loved the Dedede troll too. Sakurai is amazing, I swear.

@Bunkerneath The rights to K. Rool are owned by Nintendo though, so the fact that they were both created by Rare doesn't really mean much. Still, I'd love to see Banjo-Kazooie in the game, especially after Phil Spencer's comments about it.

@GrailUK Castlevania as a franchise is amazing no doubt about it, but Simon Belmont is only iconic for old timers since the protagonist of each game is different, sometimes is not even a Belmont for example my first castlevania was circle of the moon and I play with Nathan Graves, while Rayman is more like an iconic mascot and the newest games in my opinion are one of the best 2D platformer of all time up to the level of Mario

I loved it. And Dedede's(Sakurai's) troll was great. It actually made me want to watch reaction videos.
Simon and Richter look amazing with their corny walks from their games.
K Rool is just spot on, Sakurai and his team couldn't have represented any better.
Dark Samus is going to be better just because of her roll isn't the crappiest one like the on Samus has.
Chrom... I don't mind there being another FE character, and I understand he was popular... but we didn't need him, Robin, AND Lucina! Not only are the all FE, but they are from the same game (looks at gen one pokemon and ignores). I just wish they would have used an axe user from the more recent game and make them a clone of Ike. But I will live with it, isn't like he ruins the game in the slightest bit.
Now if only Geno can slip in. I even if it is only an assist at this point. RIP Shovel Knight.

Holy crap! That Smash Bros. Direct was easily one of the best Direct’s I have ever witnessed. Every minute was jam packed with interesting content to consume and there was never a dull moment for me. And I was absolutely ecstatic to see Chrom get his chance that day, especially since Fire Emblem Awakening is one of my favourite games of all time. But I also really enjoyed the amount of love and detail put into the Castlevania content, from the two characters to the music and the awesome looking stage, it’s clear that Sakurai and his team really has a passion for the Castlevania series. And what’s crazy about all this is that there is still content to be explored in the form of new characters and new modes.

Honestly, if Smash Bros. Ultimate happens to be the final game in the series, I would be satisfied with that.

I could care less if Dark Samus is an Echo, I was so hyped when I saw her show up. I haven't had a proper fix of Phazon in ages. I am proud for the years that I have maintained abstinence, but with Smash Bros, I might as well overdose.

I think it was fantastic and proves that Nintendo made a good choice with the e3 focus and this as the choice for holiday game. Switch’s milestone games have all been heavy hitters. Great time to be a gamer.

That said for all my excitement I think this will be my last smash. Had 4/5 not been split I could have stopped there but this one has more than I could have asked for and will entertain me for years to come.

@tangram I couldn’t agree more. Some gamers REALLY need to broaden their horizons when it comes to video game content they consume. There are so many games releasing on the Switch each week, and you’ll always find at least one big or notable game to play, if not more. The self-entitlement of gamers never ceases to amaze me. It’s like most gamers desire to be jaded, cynical, and snobby, cause a lot of them on the internet certainly come across as such. I honestly think many of them need a new hobby if they’re going to complain this much. If it’s not fun anymore or you’re not being satisfied from your current hobby, do something else. It truly is that simple.

@Arnold-Kage Who would you introduce as more female representation as a standalone fighter with the same gaming pedigree as Simon and KRool?

Lara Croft, Gruntilda, Mother Brain, Yuna(FFX/-2), Chell (Portal) come to mind, but possibly only Grunty and Chell would make a good fit for the game as a standalone fighter (in my opinion). Banjo-Kazooie would also include one female rep as part of a duo.

I don't really see the Echo fighters as being a bad thing, they all have subtle differences - Dark Samus' roll change having the potential to take her a whole teir higher than Samus.

I don't really know how you could be disappointed in that direct. I really wasn't expecting 5 new characters, least of all K. Rool. Castlevania characters/stages look outstanding too. I was sad to see Luigi go, though. RIP. The amount of content included in Smash Ultimate is completely insane. I haven't really got excited about game release dates for about the past 20 years - but I can't wait for Smash.

@zool "maybe my logic is OK and its your understanding😊." Sure... the problem isn't you it's the world's.

"Nintendo has played their cards up to the end of this year and another 5 years of life left in the Switch."What is played their cards? Announcing games that won't be released in 3 years or maybe in current console cycle like MS and Sony? No thanks.Focus of the present and you'll be much more happy person. Play games that exist because you sure can't play what isn't out yet.

My 3 favorite parts were Stage Morph, Smashdown, and Squad Strike. The new characters are cool, but I didn’t really care about them getting in (I didn’t know Richter existed until he was announced), but they’re super cool for those who wanted them! 😃

The My Music/MP3 player mode was honestly one of the features I hoped returned from Smash 3DS, and it’s back! Sakurai really does know what’s up, huh?

Overall, the Direct was one of my favorites. It was packed to the brim with interesting info, and I wasn’t bored for a second. Here’s hoping for Smash Run and an Adventure Mode similar to Subspace!

@Ernest_The_Crab Well It's mind boggling. I used to be a bastion for rational thought, but now put me down for Geno, Steve, Crash Bandicoot and Banjo Kazooie. Heck, with all the spirit talk, Goku as well. He can have a Spirit Bomb final smash or something (that uses the same algorithm as the Moon)

I was blown away. Many of the new features, like the Final Smash meter and the ability for stage morphing in battle, are great additions to the game, and the reveal of King K Rool was simply mind blowing. I was waiting for him to return for what, a decade at least?

Fantastic direct! The stage list is perfect, Gamexplain had found 85 stages but even then there were a few more stages I wanted back, and they almost all came back! 900+ music track is absolutely insane. Overall they showed off more than I expected and It was truly awesome. I think most people who thought it was a port before have come to admit that's it's definitely a new game. They really drove home the "Ultimate Smash" message. Also, I freaked out at the Chrom announcement. My excitement for this was at a 10 already, yet somehow it went up even further.

@Hobbesyall@sword_9mm This year from Nintendo: Pokemon & Mario Party. Next year / Future: Yoshi & Metroid & Pokemon. Other big games: Bayonetta & Travis. These are just examples, of course there are more. The point is, you possibly can't say there are no games coming other than Smash. Not counting all the other quality (also non-pixel) eShop games.

And I know you were trolling with your 100 Smash fans comment, but I'll address it nevertheless - as you can see, there are many many people already commenting here who are waiting for the game, and lots more outside of Nintendo Life commenters / overall - it really is a big franchise, and why wouldn't and shouldn't it be, it has A LOT of game references in it. It is ok if you don't like it, but you can't act like it is not worth the attention, or that because of the attention, it is the only game series in existence.

Some helpful advice: Have you really completed all the games you own? Have you played them to 100%? If not, start there! However, if you can't find anything to play anymore in the existing game library, or among those other upcoming games, you might want to check you preferences once again, could there actually be something you overlooked? Also, there are a lot of other interesting hobbies out there as well - maybe you have too much free time in your hands if you can't find anything to play, so actually taking time off from video games might not be a bad idea. A final suggestion: You are also free to get other game consoles (Nintendo or other companies) to expand your possible gaming catalog by a lot!

I like smash and all, and like the character announcements and stage morph. However it was unfortunately only Smash which i guess should be expected, after getting so much smash at E3 I don't think we needed another Smash direct already.

@Cosats
Pardon ?
Did you even know my gaming preference ?
I play NINTENDO games by 99% ( 1% for DDR Arcade, play every Sunday).
I am Definetely Nintendo gamer.
You can see from my avatar, my real face with my Nintendo Switch. I even Swap my Neon Red Joy Con shell with White color, bought the shell replacement from Ebay.
I have 20 Switch games right now (Total 36 games in my shopping list and will increase very fast), 32 3DS games, 28 NDS games, 17 Wii games, 7 Wii U games, 3 Gamecube games, 1 GBA game. All my attention Mostly for Nintendo machines. I filled my Shelf with Nintendo games, Nintendo periperals, Amiibos, Game cart cases, Some Nintendo toys, etc.

Actually, i do have PS4, BUT.....
Only SIX PS4 games now that in presence, because soon i will SELL my 3 PS4 games due to already get the Same games on Nintendo Switch version. I bought PS4 just because there was The Sims 4 on it. Actually i didn't want at all, but Dang it ! I can't resist for The Sims 4. But, after 4 months i bought, somehow.... i lost my Hype for my remaining 6 PS4 games. I'm planning to REMOVE PS4 & the games Completely by the time i Completely lost my Hype or All my favorite games on PS4 already out on Nintendo Switch.

I also have PS2 Slim, the Last Sony machine that i still gave respect and my kiss from me. I still love my PS2 Slim for playing DDR by mostly, DrumMania, K-1, Bomberman, some Quirky games, etc. But, lately i gave a long hiatus for my PS2 Slim due to my Focus on Nintendo Switch & Japanese 3DS games this year. Whenever i browse from playasia / Ebay, i oftenly type some Nintendo games i want to buy.

So, you asked me to play PS4 ?
I said, No thanks.
Maybe i still like The Sims 4 PS4 version, but for some reason, i might lost my Hype with PS4 by the time i oftenly play my Nintendo games rather than my Sony games.
Xbox 1 ? Did you even realize if i live in Indonesia with very Poor Online infrastructure ? Beside, Xbox 1 = Completely Dead in Indonesia. (Almost) Nobody want to talk about Xbox machines in Indonesia.

@zool Last year we were spoiled with first party games. It had one of the best launch years I've seen since probably the 90's, so I decided to temper my expectations, thinking there was no way they'd be able to follow up on that in the second year.

There's still enough games coming out on it that are keeping me busy for the meantime. I'm still chipping away at Octopath Traveler.

I'm just glad the Switch mostly managed to avoid the misery that was the first few years of the PS4's life cycle (people seem to forget how barren the PS4 was its first 3 years... when "PS4 has no games" jokes were a thing). Up until 2017 really my PS4 was mostly a paperweight and streaming box.

@NewAdvent Who’s to say that a new fighter (female or otherwise) needs to be as iconic as Simon or K. Rool? Surely Meta Knight and Palutena aren’t that famous, and don’t even get me started on all those Fire Emblem characters. Ashley or Krystal would have as much star power and good moveset potential. For third parties Shantae is plausible due to her long history with Nintendo.

This is the presentation that should have been at E3, I didn't watch this after being bored by the former so caught up afterwards. I'd give it a good solid 7 out of 10, love the Castlevania stuff and K Rool, not so much the echo fighters but I like that idea to pad out the roster even if the choices were a little uninspiring. Overall I'm definitely more excited for the game now and hopefully there is another big single player mode to top it off

@carlos82 Also, it's really cool that Metroid has two new reps this game and they're both villains.

As for that single-player mode, that blurred out section on the menu has to be it. I really hope we get something akin to the Subspace Emissary, but considering how massive this roster is getting that will be quite an undertaking for the developers.

First who says they have to have the same status or be as iconic as them. Secondly their plenty of female nintendo characters fans would go nuts over Dixie,Tetra ,SamI and Impa come to mind.

If they weren't trophies then Ashley ,Lynn and Krystal would be on it. Or what about Elma or one of the female arms characters. If we go third party the list can even be bigger as characters like Lara croft,Chun Li, Tiffa,Jill valentine , Shantae, Kasumi , Ivy and many more come to mind

"For us non Smash gamers, it's just another long wait until something comes out that should have been here already.""Because you are happy to play anything, then I am not speaking for you. It is presumptuous of you to think I was." So who presumptuous here? Again get your story right.

"there are very few new physical Nintendo AAA games being released this year."Define very few new physical Nintendo AAA games.

@Tank207 #104: Yes. This. The PS4 was just coming off the success of PS3 and riding the wave of MS hate post-XB1 announcement, while the Switch is trying to redeem Nintendo after Wii-U, but still. Those first couple years of PS4 were pretty much void of anything, then there was an endless stream of ports.

All Switch did different was drop a couple heavy hitters (Zelda, Mario) in the first year, and then lean on the ports while they got their house in order.

@Tank207 Its got to be a single player story mode (fingers crossed), they seem to have created some quite elaborate cut scenes which would be wasted if only used to reveal the characters before launch.

On a side note I hope this convinces Konami to make some new Castlevania games with the Belmonts or at least give us the Dracula X Chronicles from the PSP.

Finally to whomever suggested that Rayman was more iconic than Simon Belmont and Castlevania, that's just laughable

@Arnold-Kage how many of those would not be echo fighters though? You could make a case maybe for Tetra, but she's likely to an echo of Toon Link. Dixie is already strongly suggested to be an echo of Diddy since his tail flick has been removed. Impa would also be an echo of Shiek - and would also be a great addition.

I agree there's plenty of names, but which ones would be standalone, and who is going to bring in more potential sales? I honestly don't think Nintendo have any interest in just throwing obscure characters in as fighters just for a small portion of the fanbase. If that were the case we'd have Tharja, Camilla, and Krystal as main fighters already, and incidentally all three of those have the potential to be good standalone fighters, it's just not going to happen.

If they are adding characters into a 70-strong roster there comes a point where the development time vastly outweighs the benefit of having them there in the first place.

@GrailUK I think we're going to see one more Namco character and one more Square Enix character. Both Sega and Konami have 2 fighters each now (Sega has Sonic and Bayonetta while Konami has Simon and Snake and Capcom has Megaman and Ryu). Considering the amount of support they've given (especially with Namco being involved in development too, and Square Enix willing to make a completely new IP for the console) they probably do deserve it.

All of the 3rd party characters so far have come from different series and for the most part have some history with Nintendo (Cloud seems to be the odd one out in this case, with fairly low exposure). Also, they're recognizable gaming icons.

So if they most come from different series, have history with Nintendo and are gaming icons we can probably narrow down the pool considerably. Square Enix I suspect will either bring in a Kingdom Hearts or Dragon Quest character then (I'm leaning towards the latter, I hope it's a Slime Knight ).

Bandai-Namco is a bit trickier, as to me they don't really have too many standouts for a mascot or faceman that isn't already Pac-man and also has some history with Nintendo. I mean there's Goku but it seems a bit weird to have an anime character in here especially since there's already the Dragon Ball series of fighting games and anime crossover fighting games. Maybe Don Wada from Taiko no Tatsujin? That series has had many Nintendo platform releases and there's one headed West shortly before Smash Bros. release date. Character is also very recognizable in Japan.

it was great. i was on the fence of getting it day one but this direct swayed me over with the amount of content. even that training mode looks like a great additional feature. this truly will be the ultimate smash game.

dude, a big franchise is GTA, and stuff like Madden and Call of Duty. smash is 'big' for some hardcore N fans only.

how many people buy a switch just for smash and that's it? i'll wager not too many. Zelda? sure. Mario? sure. smash? i'm sure there are a few but would pale to those other franchises.

look; smash is interesting for all of 60 seconds but it's not worth all the hooplah N has bestowed it. the only reason they are doing all this is that they have nothing 1st party to show but smash. and as we all know; N is only 1st party and some dribbles of 3rd party support (thanks Yamauchi and Arakawa, you jerks).

I know that I shouldn't get excited for these, especially since pessimism means either you're right or pleasantly surprised, but I couldn't help it. I guess I wish that they announced more original characters (the majority shown were echos). The new modes we're really cool, and I just can't wait to play this game.Also RIP Luigi. We will always remember you, Mr. L.

My only letdown is that we only have 4 new stages (excluding the new versions of Battlefield and Final Destination). I'm not asking for the game to have over 100 stages and have 50+ be new, but I would have liked at least a dozen or so new stages. Now with new echoes confirmed and K Rool (and Simon) I'm not feeling too disappointed anymore with not as many new fighters.

Really only Dixie could really be an echo of anyone. Tetra as toon link makes no sense. Their only one version of Impa that can be an echo, and zelda already represent's Ocarina of time.

Secondly sales don't matter as smash would sell well regardless if king k rule or simon were in . Secondly are you really saying Tetra ,Shantae,Impa are obscure. Most of the names I mention from the nintendo characters plus Shantae as 3rd party are in most top 10 lists on YouTube.

This presentation skyrocketed my excitement for the game. Confirmation of classic mode, new characters, tons of stages, clever new modes...whew. I think this game will definitely sell a ton of Switches!

i dont care about smash, but i watched the vid and understand why people are hyped, i mean a ridiculious amount of fighters, great looking levels.
it reminds me of the experience of soul caliber on nintendo gamecube, the vid was also very fun the watch, the realy put some love in it.

I wish the UI had been among the choices for things I liked in the direct, because that one is #2 for me. I've learned to live with Smash 4's UI, but that doesn't mean I've come to like it.

...and being a pretty good Samus main in Smash 4, I'm glad she has a glimmer of hope now, since Dark Samus has an actual roll for once. Maybe they improved some things with Samus too since E3? One can only hope, but I'm glad to have Dark Samus as a backup option.

I enjoyed pretty much everyrhing, the whopping number of stages, the new squad strike and smashdown modes, all the new characters etc. etc. But the highlight for me was King K. Rool. Such an awesome way to reveal(that remix Gangplank Galleon was great). As DK Country being one of the games I grew up om, seeing the King finally make it is so cool. But yeah, really good Direct, they nailed it.

Not big on Chrom getting added since we already have a female equivalent as an Echo Fighter and a separate Awakening character as well. Three from one game is going too far in my opinion. Now add Bandana Waddle Dee, Magolor, and Landia, please.

Smash character reveals are as smart and tactful as Overwatch's character movies. More so with Smash because the pastiche of Nintendoness is like snippets of the Emissary sequel we never got. Everytime is such a rush of joy.This show did it's job reinforcing how ultimate this version of the title is really going to be. I long for an on disc version of this the soundtrack (I suspect they'll probably never bother with a buyable electronic version -they made the Switch do it).

And we can easily see that logic applied when we look at the rosters of the other games. Earthbound is a prime example. When the game first came out, it sold very poorly and got mediocre reviews. Nowadays, it’s considered one of the best SNES-era RPGs (which says a lot, seeing as the period was a golden age for JRPGs). It’s very likely that the inclusion of Ness in Super Smash Bros. resulted in renewed interest in the game. Fire Emblem is another example. Without the inclusion of Marth and Roy in Melee, Fire Emblem would still be a Japan-only series. Smash was their way of testing the water with these new characters. With Kid Icarus, they took a really obscure NES game and effectively resurrected the franchise by adding Pit to Brawl and giving him a prominent role. Likewise, if they announced a new Star Fox or Warioware game and cross-promoted it by adding in a new character from the game to Smash (Krystal/Ashley being the most obvious choices) along with the corresponding Amiibo, we could reasonably expect the Star Fox/Warioware game to sell better. And this is good for Smash too, as long as the characters make the game interesting and are fun to play as (and against).

@sword_9mm Really? You used Zelda as an example? Smash games almost always outsell Zelda games on each platform both series are featured on (the only exception is OoT). The amount of people who try to say "Smash isn't a system seller" floors me. It takes all but 10 minutes to do the research necessary to see that Smash is probably Nintendo's 4th consistent best selling series.

Some people are suggesting that there’s no more big female characters to put in. Dixie Kong is an obvious one. But we could also go with Terra from FF6, Lara Croft would be another one, Chun Li, Jill from Resident Evil.

Other than Rabbid Peach I’m kinda out of ideas at this point ... wow sexism in video games is really bad.

You see stuff like this at a Nintendo Direct where the Nintendo Switch gets exclusive content not available elsewhere, and then you read on resetera that the Vita is better than the Switch (at dying from lack of 1st party games, apparently)

I loved it! King K. Rool's reveal was my absolute favorite, which is surprising to me, since I thought that I'd be satisfied after finally getting Ridley, but King K. Rool's reveal made me realize I've always wanted him, I just never fully appreciated how badly I needed this.

Second place is the new option to charge final smashes, so that you can use them even if you play with items off.

/GRUMP

Seriously, Belmont is a great 3rd party addittion. Though I'd rather have more Nintendo characters. And Donkey Kong finally having a bad guy admitted is great news.

I do honestly this this is looking to be the visually least coherent version of Smash yet, however, which has me somewhat dismayed. Look at Ridley. He's an evencolored blob of sludgy grey whenever he appears on screen.

While I'm excited to PLAY this game, I'm less excited than ever before to LOOK at it.